With the fourth season of Fringe still months away, we are eagerly awaiting word on what is going to happen. Peter - and all memory of him - no longer exists. The two universes have to work together to save themselves. Brad Dourif was brought in for the season finale - but only on screen for 56 seconds. Where will all this lead come fall? I snagged Fringe producer Jeff Pinkner at the 2011 Saturn Awards last night in the hopes of dragging some answers out of him.

How do you bring back a character no one has any recollection of?

The question, I think, is, "Do we bring him back? What are the consequences?" Peter made this heroic choice. He recognized that, in the future, if things continue the way things are going, the love of his life, Olivia, would die. Understanding the consequences, he decided to bring these two universes together in order to save her. As a consequence, he doesn't exist anymore! So really, the question is, "What does their life look like in his absence?"

The idea of multiple universes is really tantalizing. Could we see even more new universes this season?

I think - as we have said - there is so much story, and this is where our characters live. I do think we will be presenting a new version [of our universe]. One of the things that is awesome about Fringe is that every season, we take the same show, the same story, the same characters, and look at them from a different point of view. This season, we will certainly be doing that.

Might we see the Observers take a more active role this season?

For sure. We love the Observers. It's hard to answer without giving too much away, but for sure.

Brad Dourif's character only appeared on screen for a minute in the season finale before he was "killed" off. With an actor of his caliber, on a show like Fringe, will we see much more of his character next season?

I don't want to reveal anything, and we haven't talked to him, and his story existed in the year 2026, and our story is going to pretty much return to 2011. But. In the Fringe universe, things have a way of coming back around.

So if we do se him again, it probably would not be in the season's first episode.

Probably not.

Was it a little frightening when the show was renewed? You had a pretty good ending there, that could have worked well as a series finale.

We had a perfect ending, but it would have been understandably frustrating if that had been the series finale. Certainly one of the themes of our three main characters - Walter, Peter, and Olivia - is that they are sort of a family. They are all fringe human beings themselves, who have found a familial bond. And with Peter and Olivia, a romantic bond. It would have been slightly frustrating if that had been the series finale. We have a different series finale in mind.

Did you notice or learn anything from last season that you want to incorporate in the upcoming season?

What we learned right away, and really strongly, was how intelligent, engaged, and supportive our fans are. They really embolden us to take risks, to tell stories in another universe for entire episodes, with only some of our regular characters. To tell animated episodes. The unbelievable response we have gotten from fans has really allowed us to engage our crazy.

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"The question, I think, is, "Do we bring him back? What are the consequences?" Peter made this heroic choice. He recognized that, in the future, if things continue the way things are going, the love of his life, Olivia, would die. Understanding the consequences, he decided to bring these two universes together in order to save her. As a consequence, he doesn't exist anymore! So really, the question is, "What does their life look like in his absence?"

Oh right cause how OTHERS will react to a peterless world is more important than giving Peter character development and josh something to do.

Have to agree would love to get ride of the troll.... I have to say I think Josh has been given hardest material this season as he stuff has been more subtle, and that fan have overlook him and what he done. Plus he hosting the Emmey's and therefore has the best chance of a acting nomination

Have just visited the Portal Awards page but can't get to the links where we can vote for Fringe, Anna Torv and Johnn Noble.Kate, you've done such a good job at making people dislike Josh Jackson NAME on the web, that its actually [slightly] affected my admiration for the guy. So....Well done. I'm sure he would be thourghly pleased with your rantings and how it brings an annoyed sigh to all who see that his name is related to what u write.

PS: Sorry folks. I know i just fed the troll but it's really hard not to after seeing it EVERYWHERE & not just on this site.

I thought I was going crazy, 'cause I can't find the links to the voting page either. I emailed airlockalpha but have not gotten a reply. It's driving me crazy because I want to vote for Anna and John as well.

"Kate, you've done such a good job at making people dislike Josh Jackson NAME on the web, that its actually [slightly] affected my admiration for the guy."

Is that the reason you have excluded Joshua Jackson from your voting options at the Portal Awards? I don't blame you, trolls have that ability. Take for example Anto, she might have soured any liking I had for Anna Torv.

Wow, are you people sheep or something? If my frustrations about the way the writers have treated josh for the last 3 years actually affects your liking of josh, then that's your problem. I have read countless bad reviews of glee and I LOVE that show. I AM ENTITLED TO MY OPINION and if my opinion bothers you enough to stop liking josh, then you need to grow a backbone and stop feeding me or ignore me.

Why are you even on this site, kate? No one likes you or even respects your opinion. Heck, most people would be glad if you died tomorrow. Isn't there some place else you can be or has everyone rejected you and your insanity?

Btw, come back to me when john and Anna's screentime has been cut in half and their characters don't exist. I'm sure there would be LOTS of people utterly pissed off, pissed off enough to stop watching the show because even THEY don't watch the show for FRINGE. But its wrong for me to be upset about josh and the fact that his character will not be given much to do next year cause his character doesn't exist and we will be seeing yet another version of these characters and seeing everyone get to have even more fun.

kate, you would be taken more seriously if you didn't go everywhere insulting every actor in the show, including Josh Jackson (I thought you liked him?). I have also stated my opinion here, that the treatment of Peter by the writers and the material they've given Josh have been pathetic, but you don't do that, you just explode in incoherent hateful rants.

@kate There is a difference between being entitled to express your opinion and then being entitled to express it in a derogatory, negative and repetitive way (which you're not and it surprises me you haven't been banned yet for doing this).We've all heard your opinion ad nauseum, you need to work on you expressing yourself without without doing it in a derogatory way. Just because you may or may not be angry about a situation is not a reason to post so hatefully. Honestly, just work on posting your opinion in a more positive light and with the right frequency (we heard you the first time) then no one will care about what you post.